A general election for the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

was held in the state of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia, on Saturday 1 May 1976. The result was a narrow win for the Labor Party under

Neville Wran Neville Kenneth Wran, (11 October 1926 – 20 April 2014) was an Australian politician who was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 to 1986. He was the national president of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1980 to 1986 and chairman of ...

—the party's first in the state in more than a decade.

Issues

The incumbent Liberal- Country Party coalition had lost its longtime leader, Sir Robert Askin, at the end of 1974. His successor, Tom Lewis, didn't last a year as premier before his colleagues dumped him in favour of Eric Willis. Wran successfully emerged from the shadow of the defeated Whitlam Labor government at a federal level. Labor's campaign focussed largely on the leader himself, what Australians call a "Presidential" style campaign. The state party had undergone a long process of renewal, and emerged with strong moderate credentials. Labor also offered an alternative to a long-serving government widely perceived as corrupt. Wran's campaign slogan, "Let's put the state in better shape," delivered by the leader and key spokesmen Peter Cox and Syd Einfeld, resonated with voters.

Key dates

Results

The election was in doubt for several days. Ultimately, the seats of

Gosford Gosford is the city and administrative centre of the Central Coast Council local government area in the heart of the Central Coast region, about north of Sydney and about south of Newcastle. The city centre is situated at the northern ext ...

and Hurstville fell to Labor by only 74 and 44 votes respectively. Had the Coalition retained these seats, it would have stayed in power with a one-seat majority. As it turned out, the loss of Gosford and Hurstville gave Wran a one-seat majority.

Seats changing hands

* Members listed in italics did not recontest their seats. * In addition, Labor retained the seat of Coogee, which it had won from the Liberals at the 1974 by-election.

Post-election pendulum

Notes

References

{{New South Wales elections Elections in New South Wales 1976 elections in Australia 1970s in New South Wales May 1976 events in Australia